Can I feed my chameleon this butterfly?
- Thread starter Nicca90
- Start date
Crashbandit05
Avid Member
I think that's a "blue spotted purple" butterfly. Not sure about toxicity though.
Chameleomom
Chameleon Enthusiast
Ummm I don't see a pic of the butterfly. Be careful of wild caught bugs they can carry parasites
BabyChamCham
Established Member
I heard butterflys have a bad taste...
Virgil1972
Avid Member
I believe a lot of butterflys are toxic. Moths are good.
Chameleomom
Chameleon Enthusiast
Haaa never tasted a butterfly to find out 
Nicca90
Member
Thanks !!
Nicca90
Member
I agree :/ I think k I'll let it go, it's so pretty anyways. I just thought she would like it. Thanks for the reply!
Virgil1972
Avid Member
I would stay away from bugs with bright colors. Bright colors in nature usually means toxic.
trickedoutbiker
Avid Member
I heard butterflys have a bad taste...
Not all. Some actually have quite a sweet taste to them, as they feed on sweet nectar and such. Lots of them do however, taste horribly and completely awful, and that is part of their defense against predators.
It's got a hint of red on the upper-outter wings if you examine it closely. It's actually called a Limenitis arthemis astyanax, or, commonly called the Red-Spotted Purple Butterfly.
Picture from Wiki:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limenitis_arthemis#/media/File:Red_Spotted_Purple.JPG
Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limenitis_arthemis
"the red-spotted purple is a mimic of the poisonous Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor) and is typically found in open woodlands and along forest edges."
The Red-Spotted Purple uses Batesian mimicry to LOOK poisonous like the Pipevine Swallowtail, however, it is completely non poisonous.
If you go to this link and scroll about halfway down, you can read a tad about the Red-Spotted Purple and see both the top and the bottom of the wings. The bottom of the wings display a row of red spots.
http://trekohio.com/2012/09/27/male...tterflies-and-black-butterflies-of-all-sorts/
-----------------------------
I actually found one a couple weeks ago while bug hunting at my mom's house out in the country and fed it to my panther chameleon....
Here is a pic of it in hanging out in an old cage I have before I fed it off to my chameleon:
My cham loved it actually. Went for it right away. There were no ill effects either. I always do research on every single insect I catch to verify if it is toxic or not. If there is any doubt at all, I release it. In this case, the Red-Spotted Purple Butterfly is completely safe. There may not be much meat on it, as there isn't on most butterflies.... but hey, variety is always great and your cham won't complain. The different colors are good visual stimulation, and a different taste in their mouth every once in a while is always a plus as well.
I found quite a few different butterflies that weekend.....
Here is a Papilio glaucus, commonly known as the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail.
This butterfly too, is completely harmless. Since the adults of this species are palatable, or pleasant to taste, some of the females have dark morphs which use Batesian mimicry just like the Red-Spotted Purple to look like the same poisonous Pipevine Swallowtail.
Here is another butterfly I caught, the Limenitis archippus, also known as a Viceroy Butterfly.
Like the other two butterflies discussed here, this species ALSO mimics another butterfly, the Danaus plexippus, widely-known as the the Monarch Butterfly. The Viceroy uses Müllerian mimicry in this case, in which two different, very distasteful species mimic each other's warning signs. Although the Viceroy Butterfly tastes absolutely terrible, it is completely non-toxic. That same cannot be said about the Monarch Butterfly though, as the caterpillars feed on the Milkweed plant which contains a poisonous toxin, called "cardenolide aglycones", that is stored in their bodies, making them toxic and taste awful.
Yep.... that was a good weekend for butterflies. I also caught some Katydids that same weekend.....
Needless to say, my chameleon ate good.
Last edited:
Virgil1972
Avid Member
Everyone is having better luck then me at finding bugs. My yard must be a wasteland or something.It's got a hint of red on the upper-outter wings if you examine it closely. It's actually called a Limenitis arthemis astyanax, or, commonly called the Red-Spotted Purple Butterfly.
Picture from Wiki:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limenitis_arthemis#/media/File:Red_Spotted_Purple.JPG
Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limenitis_arthemis
"the red-spotted purple is a mimic of the poisonous Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor) and is typically found in open woodlands and along forest edges."
The Red-Spotted Purple uses Batesian mimicry to LOOK poisonous like the Pipevine Swallowtail, however, it is completely non poisonous.
If you go to this link and scroll about halfway down, you can read a tad about the Red-Spotted Purple and see both the top and the bottom of the wings. The bottom of the wings display a row of red spots.
http://trekohio.com/2012/09/27/male...tterflies-and-black-butterflies-of-all-sorts/
-----------------------------
I actually found one a couple weeks ago while bug hunting at my mom's house out in the country and fed it to my panther chameleon....
View attachment 163890
Here is a pic of it in hanging out in an old cage I have before I fed it off to my chameleon:
View attachment 163888
My cham loved it actually. Went for it right away. There were no ill effects either. I always do research on every single insect I catch to verify if it is toxic or not. If there is any doubt at all, I release it. In this case, the Red-Spotted Purple Butterfly is completely safe. There may not be much meat on it, as there isn't on most butterflies.... but hey, variety is always great and your cham won't complain. The different colors are good visual stimulation, and a different taste in their mouth every once in a while is always a plus as well.
I found quite a few different butterflies that weekend.....
Here is a Papilio glaucus, commonly known as the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail.
View attachment 163893 View attachment 163894
This butterfly too, is completely harmless. Since the adults of this species are palatable, or pleasant to taste, some of the females have dark morphs which use Batesian mimicry just like the Red-Spotted Purple to look like the same poisonous Pipevine Swallowtail.
Here is another butterfly I caught, the Limenitis archippus, also known as a Viceroy Butterfly.
View attachment 163895 View attachment 163896
Like the other two butterflies discussed here, this species ALSO mimics another butterfly, the Danaus plexippus, widely-known as the the Monarch Butterfly. The Viceroy uses Müllerian mimicry in this case, in which two different, very distasteful species mimic each other's warning signs. Although the Viceroy Butterfly tastes absolutely terrible, it is completely non-toxic. That same cannot be said about the Monarch Butterfly though, as the caterpillars feed on the Milkweed plant which contains a poisonous toxin, called "cardenolide aglycones", that is stored in their bodies, making them toxic and taste awful.
Yep.... that was a good weekend for butterflies. I also caught some Katydids that same weekend.....
View attachment 163898 View attachment 163897
Needless to say, my chameleon ate good.
trickedoutbiker
Avid Member
My mom has a 4-5 acre (can't remember which) property with a huge field, huge pond, and a buttload of trees. I get bugs all the time out there when I visit. I get butterflies, moths, wild crickets, katydids, dragonflies, bumblebees, ..... I probably look like an idiot running around trying to catch them sometimes, because I've chased butterflies into my mom's neighbors' yards before.....
But hey.... I like treating my cham and making sure he has a huge variety of feeders when I can. He eats better than I do!
Virgil1972
Avid Member
Im not finding anything bigger then a pinhead cricket except for few dragonflies and moths. Usually there is a ton of bugs but this year its like the bug apocalypse happened here.My mom has a 4-5 acre (can't remember which) property with a huge field, huge pond, and a buttload of trees. I get bugs all the time out there when I visit. I get butterflies, moths, wild crickets, katydids, dragonflies, bumblebees, ..... I probably look like an idiot running around trying to catch them sometimes, because I've chased butterflies into my mom's neighbors' yards before.....
trickedoutbiker
Avid Member
I'm sorry.
Come here.... you can get cicadas at least. The "17 Year Cicada". Right now, I can go outside every single night and find at least a few within ten minutes or less. This is the perfect time of year for them and they are coming out of the ground like crazy!
Virgil1972
Avid Member
Now that you mentions cicada I can't even remember hearing any this year. I usually hear them all the time this time of year.
trickedoutbiker
Avid Member
I hear them all night. They are so loud!
